Bloom
by 1Past and Present1
Summary: How could she follow the will of her heart, if it'd split her heart in two?


"I'm so sorry."

"That's alright, then."

"No, please, don't leave me, yet!"

Blaze draws to a gradual stop at the door, her slender back and squared shoulders serving as a rigid, impenetrable barrier against Amy's hands as they ball in the cotton of the cat's casual choice in a shirt, something civilian to make the hedgehog feel less inferior.

"Let me explain!"

"I'm waiting."

"I… I can explain, really, I can!"

"I'm listening."

"And you deserve it! An explanation, I mean. But I… God, sweetie, I've messed up and I'm afraid."

"Of what? Of me?"

"It's not like–"

Blaze suddenly turns on her elegant heel, causing Amy to stumble backward in turn.

"You're right to be upset, but please."

"I would never hurt you."

"You'll hate what I have to say."

The cat watches the hedgehog fervently struggle not to passionately cry and it hurts just to witness it.

"I'm scared you'll come to hate me, too," Amy admits very quietly.

"I could never," is Blaze's gentle reassurance.

"Can you promise that?"

The wall beyond feline eyes caves in as they slowly swivel away, leaving the hedgehog feeling the biting cold of disappointment in their absence, rather than the searing heat of anger.

"Sweetheart."

"Forgive me, but I doubt the validity of promises."

"I know I let you down and I can never, ever make that right, again."

"I don't expect you to."

"But, please, wait a minute. Just let me explain."

"I am waiting."

"Then wait a little longer. I'm gathering… I'm searching for the words."

"You may take as long as you need. I will remain here until you are ready to speak."

"Oh, sweetheart." Green eyes flood with tenderness, but Amy's gaze isn't met by Blaze. "That's so chivalrous of you."

The cat's handsome features are now withdrawn, leaving her without a discernible expression.

The hedgehog keeps her tears locked away and tentatively reaches for a slack hand, taking it very gently, testing it for rejection and finding only weakness instead. "We both know that's not true."

"I suppose you don't have forever."

"That promise has been… retracted, now."

Blaze flushes, her shallow chest swelling with a pained inward breath.

"And that's not your fault at all. It's mine, sweetie."

"Then why say something designed to make me feel villainous?"

"Because even though I'm fully grown on the outside, in my heart I'm a stupid, hopeless girl who played a woman's game." Amy draws the princess' hand to her lips, kissing it softly, momentarily, leaving her unique imprint. "Of course, I'm the bad guy, here, and I'm not here to change your mind. So, thank you. For giving me this last audience with you."

"You really do make it sound so…"

"Over?"

"As if I might not think of you fondly, change my mind a thousand times over and eventually come back to you with my tail tucked away."

"I want you to be happy. I'm clearly not cutting it for you, sweetie. Not anymore."

"I…"

The hedgehog watches the cat struggle not to cry in a series of bittersweet winces.

"I have no answer to that."

"Then allow me to choose for you."

Blaze bites her lip, reminding Amy of inexperienced kisses plunged by lapping tongues and suggestive nibbling over flittering pulse lines.

"Falling for you was a mistake."

The cat winces again, then finds her chin gently captured within the hedgehog's strong, calloused hand, accustomed more to wielding the heavy hilt of a hammer than the delicate jaw of a lover, yet sufficient to tilt a regal head upright once more, as if it's unsuitable for even dejected royalty to bow to a pretty and apologetic commoner.

"I was sore after Sonic and when I believed I was truly alone, you found me. You consoled me. God, you alone consoled me when the world – my world – was so inconsolable."

"I wanted you to smile again," is the weak, velvety explanation.

"I know, sweetheart." Soft lips part to emit a patient sigh. "And I could've left it as one friend consoling another but of course, I fetishized it. I just have to have a saviour. I have to have a Sonic of some sort, even if he ends up being you."

"That hurts."

"I'm sorry. Should I go on?"

"You might as well."

"Alright. So, I fell for you. Slowly, for me. In subtle pieces which fell into all the right places of my broken, tossed puzzle. When I finally realised how I felt about you, I tried to console myself. Said to myself, hey, it's okay if I'm attracted to you even though you're another woman because what's the crime in that? And I said to myself, hey, it's okay if I'm in love with you even though you're not exactly Sonic, because you're kinda like Sonic, right? Just from an alternative universe. You occupy the space he doesn't. And maybe that's close enough."

Blaze notes the pregnancy that ladens Amy's prolonged pause.

"And since he's not in love with me but you are, I thought you and I could work."

The cat didn't know that something uglier than this could come from such a beautiful hedgehog.

"You could be my cross-dimensional compromise."

Blaze can only assume it's fitting when Amy takes her hands away and respectfully takes another step back, expression twisting with unshed anguish.

"I do love you," the hedgehog whispers, overtaken with trembling, "b-but I–"

"You love him, still."

"Yes."

The cat turns to gaze at the door from over her shoulder, considering it, reconsidering it.

"Blaze, it's okay. You can… go."

She grits her teeth behind the quiet, uncommunicative line of her lips.

"Leave me. I don't d-deserve you."

"I never doubted it."

"Oh."

Blaze turns back to watch Amy bury her face in her hands.

"Mmph."

"No," the cat says in a strained tone, quickly closing the gap with an embrace that surprises them both. "Not that. I wasn't referring to–"

"Mmph!"

"Amy, you're wonderful. I wasn't belittling you."

The hedgehog shakes her head, still hidden by the cage of her bent fingers, reluctant to listen.

"I only meant to say…" Blaze takes time to swallow the lump that has formed in her throat. It takes several attempts before she stutters out, "I never doubted your love for him." The words are breathed out and hot, beating against the pink quills beneath her nuzzling, like the ocean gnawing at a rock.

A mournful, muffled sound.

"I sensed it the first time we… Well."

Amy finally peels her wet palms from her tear-filled eyes, sniffling. "Oh, s-sweetie, why…?"

The cat contemplates these words very carefully despite everything.

The hedgehog splutters a few more.

Blaze catches sight of their embrace in a mirror hung on one of the walls, surrounded by an artistic assortment of landscapes and the portraits of friends in photographs, framed and hung up.

"That…" Eventually, Amy makes sense, again. "That must've been so p-painful!"

"It was."

"W-w-why didn't you say anything?"

"Because," the cat manages when the hedgehog offers a rather crushing return, powerful arms entwining a slender waist, "I love you."

"Y-you… deserve better than selfish, s-s-silly me."

"Perhaps. But you are the woman I chose and I don't regret my decision, even if you do."

"Oh, sweetie, I… I'm so honoured and I… I w-wish I could be better, but… I can't let him go!"

"That's fine, Amy. You don't have to."

"No," the hedgehog snarls into the cat's shoulder, "it's not fine! I can't b-be with you and lie to you anymore!"

"What else can you do, then?"

"I... I don't know."

"It's quite the tragedy, isn't it?"

Amy is disturbed by something beneath Blaze's velvety, soft-spoken tone. The hedgehog slowly pulls away, gazing a little upward, trying to meet the cat's eyes, to find something comforting in them.

"It's hardly permitted." Blaze is staring distantly at their embrace in Amy's mirror, but from this angle, it's like staring at nothing. "To do this. It will be a crime, to some."

"Sweetheart?"

"Being in love with more than one person."


End file.
